Runo and Elidae a study in Partnerships?
by Mistbender
Summary: So what happens when the kids of ShinRa's Turks and President work as partners? you sure you wanna know? LOL RenoxRufus, ElenaxRude, and a third pairing . . .
1. But they work so well together!

**Runo and Elidae - a study in partnerships**

I do not own Runo's parents or Elidae's parents. Rufus, Reno, Rude, and Elena (as well as the brief mention of Hojo) all belong to Squeenix

I don't own Elidae either, he belongs to my RP buddy, who also RPs Rude and Elena.

I was going to link an image here, but I can't. go to my Bio for a link to see what Runo and Elidae look like

This is not the Runo from "You gotta be shittin' me!" - I have like, 3 versions of Runo.

* * *

Runo rolled to the side, barely missing the slashing blow of her opponent's sword. Coming up behind the wielder, she shot him in the base of the skull, killing him instantly. She had cuts cris-crossing her arms and one eye was obscured by the blood running from a cut near her hairline. The bruises on her body made her look like some sort of leopard woman, and a couple of her fingers on her left hand were broken. She limped over to her partner, grinning widely and ignoring the deep slash on her leg. She gave him the thumbs up as he sighed and cast cure on her.

It was really starting to wear thin on him. Every mission they went on, it felt like he was babysitting her. She needed a good talking to about it, and this time he was not going to let his attraction to her stand in his way. Every cut she had, every bruise, his heart had stopped for just a second as he wondered if it was going to be the final blow that killed her. If it kept on, he would end up having a heart attack at his all too young seventeen years of age, and dying.

The ride back to the new ShinRa building passed in silence. This wasn't unusual, Elidae rarely talked immediately before, during, or after a mission anyways. He took after his father in that way. He also had his dad's darker skin tone, bulkier build, and knack for harder hits than the average person. However, he did get the lighter hair color, smoother hair texture, and lighter eye color from his mother. It was rare to see his green eyes though, as he always had the dark yellow-lensed sunglasses that his partner had given him on at all times. A small silver charm in the shape of his partner's gun dangled from the right temple piece, right at the corner of the lenses.

Runo was just about to go into her office, an offshoot of the lounge they shared, Elidae finally opened his mouth.

"Hey, Ru. Gotta moment?" he asked.

"Sure, Elli. 'Sup?" she asked, following him out to the hallway, smiling and brushing her strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes.

"What the fuck was your problem?! You gotta deathwish or somethin'?!" he yelled at her, anger written all over his face.

"The fuck?" she asked, taken aback by the venom in his voice.

"Our last mission! You almost got your ass fucking killed!!"

"But I didn't, did I? I'm still here." she was starting to worry now; Elidae had never gone off on her like this.

"Still! You still coulda gotten yourself KILLED. I'm not always here to bail you out like I do!"

"The hell are you talking about? We're partners. We work together, whaddya mean you're not always here? You ain't making any sense, Elli"

"There's such things as Solo missions and the fact I'm not always 10 fucking feet away from you at all times!" He kept trying to hide the fact that he'd been worried about her, holding that anger to him, keeping him yelling.

"I'm not helpless, Elli, I can handle, and I know what I'm doing!" now she was starting to get angry; how dare he treat her like she's helpless?

"Sure you do! And that's why you rely on me 24/7 so you can keep on with your suicidal tendencies"

"I'm not trying to get myself fucking killed out there! I know what kind of chances I can take, and yeah, I push 'em sometimes, but I ain't suifuckingcidal!"

"You sure act like it! Fuck! I can't have a second of peace without you frying my nerves freaking me out like that constantly!" He'd slipped up a little there, but thankfully, Runo hadn't noticed.

"Fucking hell, Elidae, you're acting like a fucking overprotective mom on me all of a sudden! What the fuck is up with you?!" Now Runo was really mad, she rarely called him by his full name, preferring to call him Elli, her nickname for him.

"What the fuck is up with me?! Fuck, Runo. I don't know! Maybe its cuz my partner likes to take a dive in an exploding reactor for the thrill!!" his voice dropped to a bitter tone as he added "I swear. I resent calling you partner at times."

Runo swallowed deeply and stared in shock for a moment. She could handle anything, as long as Elidae was there with her, or she could find him afterwards. Hearing that last statement started fracturing her mentality, and her heart. This was her partner, telling her that he didn't like working with her.

"You're lying . . . that's a fucking lie and you know it . . ." even she could hear the shakiness in her voice.

Elidae didn't answer, just looked to the side.

"Tell me you're fucking lying, Elidae! Goddamn it, TELL ME YOU'RE LYING!" desperation tinged her voice as parts of her fractured further; any more of this, and she would break.

"...I'm going..." he said, taking off his sunglasses and throwing them at her feet "seeyah...Shinra..." he started walking away.

Runo fell to her knees, picking up the shades that she'd spent so much time picking out. They'd had to be perfect, and the charm was supposed to be a good luck charm for him. She didn't fully grasp that he'd left her until she looked at them, confirming the worst to her mind. Her eyes started overflowing, and she wailed loudly, the sound echoing through the hall, and stabbing through Elidae like daggers.

"Elli . . . Elli, come back . . ." it was deafening to her, but to anyone else, it was a mere whisper.

Steeling his heart from the wrenching pain, Elidae continued walking down the hallway, trying to ignore the cries.

"Elidae!" Runo wailed one more time, fists tightening around the sunglasses hard enough to leave marks.

By this time, he'd turned the corner and disappeared. Runo fell into a heap on the ground, curling into a fetal position, still gripping the sunglasses as though it were her only lifeline to reality. Elena was walking down the hallways as she heard the sobs.

"Come back . . . please . . . just come back . . ." Runo was repeating in a whisper when the blonde found her.

"Runo!" Elena ran over to the teenager, concerned as to why she'd be crying in the hallway. "What happened...?" she asked, pulling her up to a sitting position.

"I . . . Elli . . . gone . . ." the teen gasped out between body-shaking sobs, followed by loud wails of anguish.

"Let's get you somewhere where you can calm down." the blonde said as she picked up the girl and carried her off to the apartment she shared with her husband, Rude.

Being carried seemed to have a somewhat calming effect on Runo, as her shaking had gone down to a constant tremble. She was still sobbing and muttering nonsense syllables though. Inside the apartment, Elena set the girl down on the couch, in a seated position.

"Now stay right here while I go get something for us to drink." She said, going into the kitchen.

The shaken girl couldn't say anything, just nodded. She'd about cried herself dry, and could use something to drink, preferably something with liquor in it to calm her some more. She looked up when the elder Turk returned, two large mugs in hand.

"Drink it; it's got scotch in it." She said, handing her one.

Runo nodded once more, and started sipping at the spiked tea.

"What happened with Elli?" his mother asked, knowing it had to be something serious, to get his partner so worked up.

Aqua eyes shot open at the name, and she started sobbing again, loudly. This startled the other Turk, and she reached over to hug the crying girl.

"Runo! What happened? You've got to tell me." She'd never seen the girl this upset before, it must've been something big.

"h-h-he LEFT ME!!" she stuttered out, before crying even louder.

"What? What do you mean? . . . wait...those are the sunglasses you...you had a fight...didn't you...and it didn't end well." The only response she got was a furious nodding of the head.

"Oh dear...do you want to get to your father?" she'd learned that you had to differentiate between the two parents of the girl, as they were both male.

"I-I dunno . . . I . . . I . . ." she broke off into sobs again, unable to continue.

Elena just sighed and helped the girl to her feet. She may love the girl like a daughter, but she wasn't her child. Helping the girl walk down the hallways, she pulled out her cellphone and called up the girl's father.

"Rufus?" she said as she heard the line pick up.

"What happened?" it had to be serious if his subordinates used his name instead of 'sir'.

"...Runo needs you, that's all I'm saying." She sighed into the phone.

"Right," he covered the mouthpiece of the phone as he addressed the executives in his office "Meeting's over, everyone out!" the employees scattered, knowing that when Rufus Shinra took that tone of voice, you had better listen.

"Yeah. We'll be up in a min..." Elena said, ending the call.

As the office door opened again, the Turk leading his daughter in, Rufus rushed over to the girl, all professionalism gone. He'd allowed Hojo to construct a womb for her inside himself, and he carried her to term, so it was understandable that he'd want to protect the girl.

"Thanks, Elena, I've got her." He said, hugging Runo to him. Elena nodded.

"And to help with explanation...look what's in her hands." Rufus pulled away just enough to look at the girl's white-knuckled grip.

"Ah, I think I understand." He knew not to mention the owner of the sunglasses, it was one of Runo's quirks; even if she seemed calm, you never wanted to mention what had made her upset in the first place, or she'd just start all over again.

"...yes." the other blonde replied.

"Where was she found?" he asked, knowing that he couldn't ask Runo what happened, but having security cameras everywhere helped immensely in these situations.

"In the hallway in front of their office." She replied, some of the training bringing her back to a more businesslike tone. The president nodded briefly.

"I'll get the details from the cameras, better to not stress Runo any more than need be." His tone followed suit, unconsciously.

"Yes...any mention of...him...causes her to break down."

"I figured. She's been like that for a while. If something upsets her this bad, you don't mention what upset her, you'll get nowhere." Elena nodded at this.

"Anything I should do, Rufus?" even if their tone was more controlled, there was still a problem, and thus calling him 'sir' had been tossed aside.

"Tell Reno to come up here the second he gets back, and make sure he knows how urgent it is." He told her, still comforting his daughter.

"I'm on it." She didn't even move from where she was standing as she pulled her phone out again.

"Yello?" the redhead answered after a few rings.

"Reno. How far are you from here?" her responses were clipped, wanting to impart the importance of the conversation.

"Ten minutes, en route. Why?" his brow furrowing.

"Minute you get back; you come to Rufus' office."

"What's up?" he asked, grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"Runo's broken." She stated bluntly, after looking at the girl's blonde father for confirmation.

". . . FUCK. Make that two minutes." He pressed on the gas, speeding and weaving through traffic, his partner and Elena's husband looking at him oddly.

"Just don't kill anyone." Elena warned

"I won't. Not until I know why she's broken, and who broke her." The anger was showing in his voice; how dare someone hurt his daughter?

"Can't say who without her breaking down...but you'll know when you see her." The blonde informed him before hanging up.

"Less than 2 minutes." She informed her boss.

"He's speeding, isn't he?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm not surprised." He added, setting his daughter on the white couch in his office.

"Neither am I...how is she?"

"It seems she's gone into some sort of trancelike state. She's not crying, but nor is she speaking, moving, or doing much of anything but staring straight ahead and still clutching the sunglasses with that death grip of hers."

"...dammit."

"I don't think it's very healthy for her to be like this." He said, shaking his head in dismay.

"Frankly...I'm starting to worry about..." she started.

"If you want to go check on him, feel free, I'm sure Reno will be here any . . ." he was interrupted as the door slammed open, one very angry redhead on the other side ". . . second." He finished flatly.

"Hey Reno." The female Turk said, turning to look at him.

"What happened? Who did it? Where's my Runie?" Reno had taken on the role of overprotective father ever since Rufus had started showing, and any time his little girl got hurt, he got pissed.

"Look at what she's holding..." Elena said, answering the second question.

"She's right here, Reno. She's . . . gone blank." Rufus answered the other questions as Reno loped over to the couch.

Seeing the sunglasses that he'd helped her pick out, he started to growl out the boy's name, only to have his husband's hand slapped over his mouth.

"Reno, you know not to do that." The blonde male reminded him.

"I won't kill him, because he's yours, but he is not getting away with this unharmed, 'Laney." Reno always talked far more coherently when he was pissed.

"I know..." she started "he needs it."

"I can either go now, or wait for you to find him. I can't guarantee I'll wait long." As much as he loved his daughter, Reno still valued his friends and coworkers.

"I think I'll try to find him first...gimme an hour before you go on your man-hunt. Your daughter still needs you."

The redhead nodded once, all of the anger and fury in his eyes washing away as if it had never been there as he turned back to his daughter.

"One hour, then he's mine." He said just loud enough for her to hear.

The blonde woman nodded, then dashed out of the office to find her son, and the cause of all this trouble. As she ran off, Rufus pulled up the various video feeds from the security cameras.

"Shall we get the details, Ren-kun?"

"Yeah." Reno sighed as he left his daughter sitting on the couch, so much like a porcelain doll, staring without blinking.

As they watched the argument unfold, the redhead became angrier by the minute.

"Dammit, he saw when she started to crack, I KNOW he knows that look." His fists were alternately clenching and loosening, fighting the urge to punch something.

"Ren-kun, you gave her an hour, let her try to get something done." Rufus gently reminded his fiery husband.

"He will still pay for what he did to Runie."

"I know."

Waiting on the clock, Reno sat with his daughter again, trying to get some sort of response out of her that wouldn't upset her.

"Hour's up. Where is he?" the Turk stood as soon as the clock read an hour since Elena had left the office.

"Third floor, that one office we use for storage." Rufus told him, checking the security feeds.

Reno stormed off down the hall, fire burning in his eyes as he took the stairs down to the third floor. Thankfully, this building wasn't nearly as tall as the one that had been blown up by Diamond Weapon. Eight story buildings weren't nearly as conspicuous as the 70-story monster that he'd had to climb to get to work.

Elidae was sitting on a box in the third floor storage office, his tie loosened and his jacket missing. He had his head in his hands, already regretting the things he said to Runo. He'd really screwed it up this time, and he wouldn't blame her if she never forgave him. He'd been mentally beating himself up when the door slammed open.

"Elidae . . . you seriously fucked up this time. You can fuck with anyone else, but you don't fuck with my daughter." Reno growled as he strode forth and pulled the boy up by his shirtfront.

It didn't even register to Reno's anger filled mind that the boy had looked away in sorrow and shame when he backhanded him.

"You had to know you'd pay for this." The redhead continued, holding the teen at arm's length before punching him squarely in the face.

"...I know." Elidae whispered, already hating himself.

"Don't even fucking talk to me. My little girl isn't even MOVING because of you. All she does is stare blankly straight ahead!" the older man yelled, dropping his target to the floor and kicking him in the gut.

The dark-skinned teen said not a word, didn't even grunt in pain as Reno kneeled down and punched him some more.

"She's fucking BROKEN because of what you said to her. What you DID to her." He yelled some more, pulling him up by his oddly silky, straight hair and backhanding him again.

"You should be fucking GRATEFUL she's your partner. She's the best thing that ever happened to me, and you WRECKED her!" he ranted some more as he threw the boy against the wall.

As the redhead slammed him against the wall again, tears started to form in Elidae's eyes. Not from physical pain, but from the heartbreak that he was being dealt, learning what his fight with Runo had done to her. He didn't look up though; he was too deep in his depression to do so. Reno grabbed him by the throat and slid him up the wall, looking him in the face.

"You crying? Better be for her, cuz if you're crying for yourself, you're the most selfish bastard that I'd have the shame to know." Reno let the boy drop to the floor. "You stay the fuck away from my little girl. I ever catch you doing this shit again, it won't matter that you're my best friend's kid, you won't survive the night." He kicked him once more, for good measure, before walking out the door, slamming it after him.

Elidae continued his silent crying, slamming the back of his head against the wall, punishing himself even more.

"It's always been for her...always..." he whispered, covering his face with his hand and sobbing softly.

Reno walked back into his husband's office, where Elidae's parents and Rufus were waiting. Runo hadn't moved yet, and hadn't even noticed he'd left. The redhead hadn't registered that his knuckles had been cut open on the kid's face, nor that he had one of the safety pins that Elidae often pierced himself with sticking out of his right hand.

"The kid is on the third floor. Empty office. I wouldn't suggest curing him, he needs to hurt for a while for what he did." He told them quietly.

"Is that a safety pin in your hand?" his partner asked him, just loud enough that Runo would have heard.

"Huh, guess it is." Reno said, looking at his hand, then pulling it out and dropping it into the trash can.

"Dad? What did you do?" Runo asked hoarsely, barely above a whisper.

"You probably ripped out a piercing." Rude replied to the redhead's actions.

"That'd hurt him." He then did a double take as he registered that Runo was looking at him. "Runie? Are you ok?" he ran over to her.

"Runo..." Rude and Elena murmured at the same time, the taller dark man putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"What . . . did you do, dad?" Runo asked again, a hint of steel and ice demanding he tell her.

". . . I, uh, well . . . y'know . . ." he stuttered under the glare in his daughter's eyes.

"He beat the crap out of him." Her other father told her, nodding once at her hands, indicating who 'him' was.

"Oh shit." Rude muttered.

Runo slowly stood up, still looking at the sunglasses in her hands. Reno stood with her, as he'd knelt down to talk to her. Looking up, she pried one hand free from the sunglasses and punched her own father squarely in the face. Reno fell backwards, blood spurting from his nose, a shocked look on his face.

"FUCK YOU DAD!" she screamed at him before running out of the office.

"That went well..." Rude snorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"But . . ." the man looked forlornly at the door his daughter just ran out of, holding his nose shut.

"She may be our little girl, but she is fifteen, Reno."

"Meaning?" he asked, confused.

"You really didn't notice, did you?" Rufus grinned, shaking his head.

"Obviously not." Rude smirked

"What am I missing here? And what ain't you tellin' me?" Reno said, getting to his feet.

"Rufus? You wanna spell it out for him?" Elena sighed.

"Spell? What? Someone tell me what the fuck is going on." Reno demanded, some of the old anger coming back.

"Runo loves Elidae, Reno. As pissed as you were on her behalf, you still kicked the ass of the guy she loves." The redhead's jaw dropped and he blinked a few times.

"I'm a fucking idiot, aren't I?"

"Yes, I suppose you are." The blonde man replied.

"Gee thanks, wifey." Reno retorted, getting only a smirk from his husband in response.

Elena rolled her eyes at the two before reminding them that the teens were missing.

"We need to find both of them..."

"Yeah, we really should. Or more, you guys should, I don't think either of 'em wants to see me right now." Reno bemoaned.

"Yeah..." she replied in a tone that said he was stating the obvious.

"So Reno stays here, we go look for them." Rufus sighed.

"Sounds good. Elidae wouldn't stay in the same place...we better try his room." Elena nodded.

"I get the feeling that Runo might try to go to the last place she knew he'd be. I'll check there first."

"Let's go." She said, nodding before running out the door with Rude at her heels.

Rufus headed for the elevators, pushing the down button for the third floor. As Rude and Elena reached their apartment in the building, the blonde grabbed her husband's arm.

"Rude. You look at our room...I'll check his."

"Yeah."

* * *

**A/N:** I 'borrowed' the concept of Reno calling Rufus 'wifey' from a fanfic on y!gallery that I really like. I just thought that for the pairing, it was wonderfully fitting, so I've been using it in my RPs (this fic was an RP before I ficced it)


	2. Drama! and what now?

Elena ran on to her son's room, and seeing the door cracked open, she opened it further to find him propped up against the wall, six bottles of various liquors around him, all empty. His eyes were glazed and barely open, indicating just why the bottles of liquor were empty.

"Elida- oh my god!" she cried out, running over to check his pulse.

"Dammit! RUDE!" she yelled, bringing her husband running.

"What the-" he was cut off by the blonde.

"Don't just stand there! Get him to the infirmary!" Elena then spotted the empty bottle of pain relievers. "NOW!"

He didn't ask questions, just scooped up his son and ran. They had no idea how much time they had to get him there, or if he could even be saved. Elena pulled her phone out and called Rufus' cellphone just as he found his daughter in the third floor storage office, looking at the damage her father had left behind.

"Stay here with me, ok Runo?" he said before answering the phone. "Yes?"

"Elidae! He-he-!!" Elena stuttered into the phone.

"He what, Elena? Calm down. I can't understand what you're saying."

"Who what, daddy?" Runo asked, concerned.

"Bottle of pain relievers, six bottles of alcohol, all empty!" the woman keened.

"Please, calm down. What do you mean six bottles of alcohol and a bottle of pain relievers all empty?" Rufus tried to calm her some more.

Runo was starting to get agitated, only hearing one side of the story.

"What's going on, daddy? Did . . . did something happen to Elli?" she asked, clutching at his arm.

"ELIDAE TRIED TO FUCKING KILL HIMSELF!" Elena screamed at the phone, loud enough that Runo heard.

"ELLI!!" the teenaged girl screamed in anguish.

"Oh fuck. Infirmary?" Rufus asked, ears ringing from the both of them screaming.

"YES." The woman on the phone exhaled loudly.

Runo didn't need to hear any more. She bolted out the door and down the hallways towards the infirmary, still clutching the sunglasses for dear life. Her father followed after her, trying to get her to slow down, if only for him to catch up to her.

"Elena, it would seem we're meeting you there."

". . . O-okay." She stammered out before she was hung up on.

Elidae's parents were sitting in the waiting room when Runo burst through the doors, knuckles white from the grip she'd been sustaining on the sunglasses. It was amazing that they hadn't broken yet, but they were very good sunglasses, and didn't break nearly as easily as the pairs that Rude preferred.

"Where is that fucking idiot?" she asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"He's still being treated." Elena told her, eyes glittering with tears she hadn't shed yet.

Wilting into her father's arms, who'd shown up just in time to catch her, the teen let out a shuddering sigh.

"Runo . . . I told you to slow down . . ." he chided gently.

"He can't die . . . he just can't, daddy . . ." she whispered, not noticing the doctor emerge from a room.

"He'll pull through." The doctor sighed; getting the strawberry blonde's attention.

"Can . . . can I see him? I'm not family, but . . ." she stammered out, hopeful.

"Of course you can." The doctor smiled faintly at her.

Rufus helped his daughter to her feet, who then walked over to the doctor that had told her that her partner would make it, wiping tears away.

"Where is he?"

"That room, over there." The doctor pointed down the hallway to the door he'd just come from.

She slowly walked over to the door, and took a deep, calming breath before entering the room. Elidae lay there, looking for all the world like he was dead, except for the furrowed brows.

"E-Elli?" she asked tentatively. "Elli . . . I know I shouldn't be here . . . I should be staying away, and remain hurt and angry, but . . . you know what? I can't hate you that much. You're a stupid idiot for doing this. What did you want to prove? Cuz if you wanted me to feel how you felt when I did stupid shit, you got it. I bet you don't even know why I got so wrecked. It's . . . it's because . . . because . . ." she inhaled deeply "I love you, you stupid moron!" she cried out softly before turning to leave, crying again.

"R-Runo . . .?" Elidae asked weakly.

"Elli . . ." she turned around, eyes red and cheeks tearstained.

"You look like shit, babe." He told her after blinking a couple of times.

"Gee thanks, you stupid moron. What were you thinking?" she snapped

"I was thinking how much I hurt you . . ."

"Did you think how much more you woulda hurt me if you'dve actually pulled this shit off?"

". . . What?"

"You stupid . . ." she stomped over to the bedside and grabbed his face before kissing him, a bit roughly. ". . . What, he says." She scoffed as he blinked in surprise.

"But . . . I was told . . . I broke you . . ."

"The fuck? Who told you that? Do I gotta punch dad again?"

"You punched him?"

"Yeah. You didn't think I'd just let him hurt you without getting hurt himself, didja?" she asked, surprised that he'd think that.

"I deserved it, and you know it." He sighed, looking away.

"Just what all did he do to you? I'll decide how much of it you deserved, since I was the one who got hurt."

"I got the shit beat outta me and one of my ear piercings ripped out."

"Dammit . . . that's gonna cost dad his industrial. The hard way." She seethed.

" . . . It's fine." Elidae said, looking a bit nervous.

"No, I'm not gonna let him just get away with that. All I did was bloody his nose last time. That's not nearly enough." She clenched her free hand, the other still with his sunglasses in hand.

"Please Ru . . ." he grabbed her fist and smoothed it out to hold it ". . . it's not worth it." He shook his head in the negative.

Runo looked down at her hand in his and blushed, turning her head to the side to hide the flush.

"If you really don't want me to, Elli . . . I won't." she murmured, earning a smile from the boy.

"Than-" he was cut off as he started coughing.

"Elli . . ." Runo's head shot up, concern etched on her face.

"It's fine . . . side effect from all the shit I took . . . still gagging, and it makes me cough."

"You idiot." She grinned. "Oh, and these are yours . . ." she loosened her stiff fingers from around his sunglasses slowly.

"You . . . still have them?"

"I never let them go." She smiled weakly, while he got a good look at how badly she'd marked up her hand, clinging to them as hard as she had.

" . . . Why?"

"You . . ." she grinned "I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I must be a pretty big idiot myself, feeling the way I do . . ." she looked to the side, not seeing him smirk and lean forward.

"And how would that be?"

"Heh" she laughed shortly, "maybe I'm not so off calling you an idiot, if you can't figure that out." She looked back at him and smirked in return.

Elidae was tired of the teasing, they'd teased each other about this sort of thing often during missions, and he just wanted to end it now. Reaching out, he pulled her towards him by the waist until she was about an inch away from his face.

"Maybe I do know." He smiled "How about you refresh my memory though?" he said softly.

"nnnh . . . Elli . . ." she moaned softly before leaning in that last inch or so and kissed him again, quite a bit softer than the first time.

Elidae returned the kiss, just as softly, and just as lovingly, right before the door opened and Reno walked in.

"Uh . . ." he blinked a bit, trying to figure out how they went from fighting to kissing, as the two pulled away at the sound of his voice.

"Oh shit." The boy muttered, worried what would happen to him now.

"Dammit dad! Get the fuck out! You're damn lucky Elli talked me outta ripping your industrial out as payback for what you did to him!" she stormed over, spun him about and kicked him solidly in the ass, pushing him out the door.

"Daddy, keep him the fuck outta this room!" Runo yelled out the door as Elidae snuck out of bed and changed.

"Reno . . ." Rufus sighed in reprovement.

"I was gonna apologize!" the redhead whined, getting only a glare for his efforts.

"Shall we?" Elidae asked from behind Runo, already dressed.

"Hell yes! Stupid needles and shit. Let's go." She said, turning to look at him.

"C'mon . . . partner." He grinned, holding a hand out to her with the other on the doorknob.

"Wait, wait . . ." she grabbed the sunglasses from the bed and put them on him carefully, kissing him after. "Let's boogie."

Elidae grinned and threw open the door, yelling 'Seeyah!' as he sprinted down the hallway with Runo's hand in his. She stuck her tongue out at her redheaded father as they ran by before yelling 'bye dad!' and laughing.

"Wait, you're still supposed to be on bed rest!" one of the nurses called after the two teenagers.

"Never! I shall be FREE!" Elidae laughed at her.

"We're Turks! We don't need no stinkin' bed rest!" Runo added.

"Even if we just about committed suicide?" he asked his partner in a low voice.

Runo looked him over with an appreciative look before replying "You look fine to me." with a grin.

"You know it babe." He said with a wink.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Runo." Her blonde father warned.

"And that would be?" she asked with a smug look, making Rufus blink.

"Not much . . ."

" . . . wow . . . go, Uncl' Ruf." Elidae snorted with laughter.

"Daddy outranks dad, so . . ." Runo grinned, catlike, as her partner snickered.

"Oh yeah, thanks, Auntie 'Lena, for the Irish tea." She said, as they were following the two teens by a few feet, all of them walking.

"No problem, sweetheart." She replied, walking up to them and smacking her son upside the head. "Now, you . . ." she glared at him, making him gulp.

Runo looked from mother to son a couple of times before giggling and yanking Elli down another hallway and to the stairs.

"Seeyah mummah!" he called as he was pulled down the corridor.

The strawberry blonde pulled him into an empty office to catch their breath, laughing.

"This is fun." She giggled, then found herself backed into a wall by her partner, making her pulse race.

"Indeed."

"Oh dear, it looks like you have me trapped . . . what _are_ you going to do with me?" she asked in mock alarm.

Elidae leaned in close and whispered in her ear "you're it" before running out the door.

"Elli!!" she called out in frustration as she chased him.

"Hi!" he said as he ran through the group of parents "Bye!"

"Come back here!" Runo called, slapping Reno as she ran past the parents as well. "You still ain't forgiven yet, dad." She reminded him.

"Never!" came Elidae's voice, echoing through the halls.

"I will find you! I always do!" she grinned, turning down another hallway.

"Ha! I can still outrun you!"

"Only cuz you got longer legs!"

"Midget!"

"Giant!"

"Munchkin!"

"Sasquatch!"

". . . FUN-SIZED!!" he grinned; they always teased each other on height.

"Just for you!" she flirted, still looking for him.

"You know it, baby!"

"How 'bout you come over here for some fun?"

"HEY!" Reno called from down the hall.

"I thought you wanted to catch me?" Elidae whispered in her ear from behind her.

Spinning on her heels, Runo wrapped her arms around her partner.

"I got ahold of you, don't I?" she smirked, just before he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her to his height.

"I think it's the other way around."

"Either way works for me." She grinned cheekily before leaning in and kissing him on the nose.

They both smiled, and he pushed the sunglasses that she'd held onto during their whole fight up to the top of his head. He then leaned in and kissed her, causing her to blush.

"Mine." She said, just happy to be in his arms, finally.

"No, mine." He countered.

"Ok." She conceded, kissing him again, causing him to grin.

"By the way, how did you manage to keep someone from stealin' the sunglasses anyways?" he asked.

"It's kind of a long story, funny though."

--Flashback--

Back in the office, Runo is sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, clutching Elidae's sunglasses to her chest, white knuckled from how tight her grip is. Raella walks in to see the girl looking like a wreck, and crouches next to her.

"Hey kiddo."

"H-hey, Auntie Rae." The girl sniffles, lip quivering, and on the verge of tears, should anything upset her.

Raella pets the girl's head, then notices her niece's death grip on the sunglasses.

"You gotta let it go kid, or you can't move on."

"Dun't wanna. Mine." She mumbles stubbornly.

"Kid . . ." she reaches forward to pry the sunglasses from the girl's hands.

Runo suddenly lunges forward and clamps her teeth on her aunt's hand, hard. Raella's eyes shoot open in shock.

"I said mine." She growls, with her aunt's hand still in her mouth, before letting go.

"Fine. Why are they so important anyways?" she asks, shaking her hand from the pressure her niece had bitten her.

"They're Elli's . . . I gave 'em to him . . . they even have a good luck charm on 'em . . ." she said, squeezing her eyes shut to fight the tears that threaten again.

"And you two had . . . a fight, huh?"

"Yeah . . . "

"Well. Doesn't that suck." Raella said, sympathetic, but still not happy at being bit. Runo just nodded.

"You need to do something about it, kid. Last I heard, Red was hunting his ass down."

"Don't want him hurt . . . I don't care how much I hurt, I don't want him hurt."

"What if he hurts himself?" this hadn't occurred to Runo, and once again, the tears started sliding down her face.

"I'll fix him. I don't care if it kills me either, I'll fix him."

"Only thing is . . . I don't think he'd want you dead either." Raella raised an eyebrow at her niece; she'd heard how many close calls she'd had.

"I need to be more careful . . . I mess up a lot."

"You're just like Reno, kid. Believe me, got him in trouble with his partner too."

"History's repeating itself." Was Runo's only concession

"Lovely." Raella sighed. "I gotta go before I get in trouble . . . take care of yourself, a'right?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Good." Her aunt left the office, going back to the bar where her girlfriend worked.

--End flashback--

"You . . . BIT her?" Elidae asked her

"Yep." She grinned.

"Kinky."

Runo raised an eyebrow at him "I could bite you too, if you wanted me to." She offered, earning a grin from him.

"Depends on where you're plannin' to bite."

"Where you wanna be bit?"

"Where do you wanna bite?"

"Maybe . . . here . . ." she kisses his neck "maybe . . . some other places . . ." she finished with a grin.

The taller teen smirked and nipped her ear "Maybe . . . those other places better wait 'till it's safe from your dad."

"Maybe he should wait 'till he's safe from me."

"That may be best."

"I'm still mad at him." She grimaced.

"I can see that."

"Always sticking his nose in where I don't want it." She grumbled, making Elidae snort in amusement.

"That's cuz you're daddy's little girl."

"Yeah, I tell daddy everything that dad don't need to know 'bout. But I ain't daddy's no more, am I?"

"No, you're mine."

"And you're mine. I don't share. Auntie Rae found that out."

"Obviously."

"Know what sucks?"

"What?"

"I still gotta wait a year." She said, referring to the age of consent.

"Yeah, it sucks."

"Stupid laws." She grumbled, getting a snicker from him.

"Yeah."

"Grr. Oh well, there's still this." She said before kissing him.

"Yes, but sometimes . . ." he set her down and licked her cheek "you gotta earn it!!" he said as he ran off.

"Dammit!" she chased after him.

Elidae laughed as they ran past their parents again. Runo yanked on Reno's ponytail a little as she ran past him.

"Maybe sometime this week . . ." she called back to him, referring to forgiving him.

"Keyword: Maybe!" Elidae supplemented from down the hall.

"You heard 'im . . . and I am his . . ." she said, running backwards with a cheeky grin on her face.

"HEY! You are not!!" Reno yelled at her, a stern look on his face.

Having turned back around to run forwards, he didn't see the look that crossed Runo's face as she skidded to a stop. Turning around slowly, she stalked back towards him.

"What was that?" she said coldly.

Hearing the tone in his partner's voice, Elidae cursed, stopped and turned around, coming back to where she was.

"Don't blow up, partner."

"You are not his, you are still fifteen!" Reno asserted.

"I'm cool, Elli." She smiled at him briefly before turning her iciest look on her own father. "Isn't . . . that . . . right . . . dad?"

The longer he stayed under that look, the more Reno squirmed uncomfortably. Suddenly, Runo turned to look at Rufus with a sweet grin.

"Daddy?"

Elidae raised his eyebrows at her quick change and exchanged a look with his own father, one that was unreadable to anyone but them.

"She is a teenager, Reno . . ." the blonde man told his husband.

"Thank you daddy." She beamed at him before getting a mischievous look on her face and pouncing on her partner and boyfriend. He caught her handily, expecting the most random things from her.

"It's good to be me. I have parents that listen, a hot guy . . ." she grinned, and Elidae laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Silly Elli." She laughed, and he grinned.

"I'm _your_ Elli though."

"Yup. Only mine."

"That's right."

"_Only_ yours?" Elena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, only mine. Ask Auntie Rae what happens when you try to take something that's mine." She grinned, rubbing her tongue along her teeth.

". . . no biting my mom."

"Oh, alright." She pouted for a second, but with the concession, she got a smile and a kiss out of Elidae.

Reno wasn't too happy about it though, as he visibly twitched, and growled low in his throat.

"What?"

"DOWN, dad." Runo glared at her redheaded father. "And give Elli back his safety pin!"

"No thanks. I needed an excuse to get a better stud anyways."

"I'd be hard pressed to find one better than you . . ." the strawberry blonde grinned at her boyfriend.

"Oh very funny."

"I thought so."

"I can see that, fun-sized ferret."

"And just as squirmy too." She grinned as she climbed up onto his shoulders, one leg pulled in so that most of her weight was on one shoulder, her left foot behind his neck, the right resting on his other shoulder. She sat like this often, so Elidae knew exactly how to help her get up there without falling.

"That's for sure."

"You know you like it." She laughed.

"That I do."

"Just don't get too 'squirmy', alright, Runo?" Rufus asked, receiving only an eye roll and his daughter's tongue stuck out at him.

Elidae bit his lip and snickered at the scene, bringing his sunglasses back down to their normal position.

--A Few Weeks Later--

"Hey Elli?" Runo asked, walking into their lounge with a large book in her hands, looking over one of the pages.

"Yeah?"

"I got this funny idea to look through my daddy's 'big book of loopholes' and found something interesting." She looked up with a grin that said she was up to something.

"Oh, the under 18 loophole?"

"You _knew?_" she asked incredulously as she dropped the tome.

"Yeah . . ." he looked up from his laptop, where he was finishing up the last report of the day.

"You knew, and you didn't _tell me?_"

"You didn't ask. Besides, I knew you were smart enough to find it on your own." He smirked.

She couldn't really retort to that properly, without sounding like an idiot, so she stood there with a strange look on her face, somewhere between outrage that he'd hid the knowledge from her and her distinctive 'scheming' look. Grinning, Elidae got up from his desk and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"How 'bout you come over to our place in a few minutes? Work's pretty much over, and my parents are on an overnight mission."

Runo shivered pleasurably from the implication, and the tone of voice he'd used, closing her eyes and exhaling softly, almost like a sigh.

"Or we could go now." He added, pulling back just enough to grin at her.

"Okay . . ." she whispered, opening her eyes about halfway, with a smile.

Despite their excitement, they closed up the office languidly. After all, they did have all night to exercise that loophole to its fullest extent. He led her down the hallways to the apartment that belonged to his parents, and into his room, kissing her passionately before shutting the door.


End file.
